9-11 November 2007:
Men's Team Finds Joy, Heartbreak in Annapolis
The Stanford Men's Team had a strong showing at the Navy Round Robin over the weekend of Nov. 9-11. The squad posted a 9-0 win over Fordham, an 8-1 decision over Haverford, and a thrilling 5-4 victory over perennial nemesis Denison. While the team was shut out by Navy and lost a heart-breaking 5-4 match to George Washington, the trip made clear that the Cardinal is right in the mix in the Summers Division.
Stanford is now 3-3 on the season.
The trip began inauspiciously. After a long journey Thursday that included a transcontinental flight, a ride at Dulles on Star Wars-era dune buggies, the team was turned away from an Irish pub for dinner and was forced to find nourishment at Rubino's, a purveyor of Italian-like food.
A fitful night of rest at Hampton Inn did not improve things. Proving himself to be a prickly protestant worthy of Luther, freshman standout Sam "The Minister" Gould refused to "carb up" at breakfast as ordered by team wisemen Andrew Burmon and David Herbert. Instead, the 18-year-old gorged himself on bacon, eggs and pancakes. The only thing missing from his breakfast were bagels, but the Navy squad was all too happy to help out that afternoon, defeating the card 9-0. The match against the #10 Midshipmen was a tune-up for the rest of the weekend, but senior Bradley Pearson didn't get the memo, jumping out to a 2-0 lead against Kit Zipf in the #7 spot before falling in five games.
After a rest and some crab cakes, the Cardinal were back on court, this time against #36-ranked Fordham. The team made quick work of the Rams, not dropping a single match in the ladder, and the victory marked the Cardinal's first win of the season.
To celebrate this milestone, senior Ben "Ron Jeremy" Peterson joined Herbert, Burmon and Pearson in their hotel room to watch "The Bourne Ultimatum," where the gang learned why Brad is sometimes called, "The Jerk." Throughout the entire film, Pearson would announce that a great scene was coming up, or shield his eyes right before a surprise killing took place. Despite his stellar play earlier in the day, it was announced that Pearson would not be welcome during Saturday night's viewing of "Ratatouille."
Saturday featured the Cardinal's most anxiously anticipated match: a showdown with fellow club team and perennial powerhouse Denison. The two squads have had their share of tight matches throughout the years.
Denison defeated Stanford 6-3 in the Summers Division finals in 2004, and the Cardinal came back in 2005 to post two 5-4 decisions over Denison, including a thrilling match in the 19th place playoff games at Nationals.
Stanford knew heading into the match that #19 Denison would be tough.
While the team had lost some depth in the off-season, the Big Red still had a stellar top to its lineup. Stanford quickly won the lower rung matches and lost at the #1-4 positions. Down 4-3, the Cardinal's hope lay on the result of Herbert's match in the #5 slot, but the veteran soon found himself in a hole, down two games to one. Sensing a momentum shift, he donned last season's "Dare to Dream" t-shirt and headed oncourt.
He fell behind in the fourth 4-2, but after a crucial handout against Stanford, a still-unidentified voice in the crowd called out "Go George!" The cheer – an obvious reference to Stanford Squash legend "Captain Comeback" George Kwon – was not lost on Herbert, and the aging stallion pulled out game four and cruised to a 9-0 game five victory. Ben Peterson then won a decisive 3-0 decision to give the Cardinal the match.
Later in the day, after more crab cakes and merriment in downtown Annapolis, the team took on #29 Haverford. The contest was uneventful, excluding the mid-match evacuation from the courts because of a burst steam pipe that began flooding the complex. Having been instilled with deep moral fibers at his Jesuit high school, Patrick Bugas expressed concern that someone might have had "his face melted off." When the Card returned to the courts, they completed an 8-1 decision over Haverford.
Coach Mark Talbott, having promised earlier in the trip to pay for meals as long as the team kept winning, made good on that vow, treating the squad to a fine meal at Chili's. While the rest of the team was "carbing up" as prescribed, Bradley Pearson used the opportunity to make eyes at waitress extraordinaire Cindy. He succeeded only in getting her to expectorate in his water.
The sun rose Sunday and the team creaked out of bed for its 9 a.m.
match against #30 George Washington University. The Colonials had beefed up in the off-season and were fresh, having not played yet that weekend, and Stanford looked to be in trouble early on. The deep Cardinal won – uncharacteristically – at the #1 and #3 positions while dropping the #8 and #9 spots. #1 Burmon in particular had a stellar match, gutting out a 5-game win to keep the Cardinal's hopes alive.
But with #4 Andy Helppie-Schmieder not in attendance and the lineup shifted, the team struggled.
Tied 4-all, the match came down to Herbert, who had prevailed in five the day before. After winning the first, he dropped the second and third to again fall behind 2-1. But Herbert's luck had run out. The co-term fought back from 8-5 to force a tiebreaker, but the champ was gassed, and he dropped the game 10-9.
Disheartened by the loss but excited to continue training, the team flew back to Stanford and returned to piles of homework and plenty of annoyed girlfriends, some real, others imaginary. The Denison win was exciting for the Card, but the tight loss to a strong GWU team provided a much-needed wake-up call that success in the Summers Division will not come easily. As Brad Pearson mumbled as he gazed after Cindy, "You gotta work for that."